Nisha Kittan 114 S1?

Previously I had reported of the formation of Nisha Kittan lodge, in Lewis and Clark Council, from the merger of Kishkakon 32 and Taleka 81.   Thanks to Rich Dillow, I now have an image of the lodge’s newly issued first flap.  The lodge has decided to use 114 as a lodge number.  As far as I know there are no other issues from this lodge at this time.

The design of the flap a simple portrayal of the lodge’s black wolf totem, depicted baying at a full moon.   It’s nicely done.  However some observant collectors, especially those in the Southern Plains may find this patch rather familiar looking.  I have to wonder if the designer of this flap was inspired by another patch.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 41% [?]

107 Unilachtego ZS1?

There is an old adage about what happens if one assumes.   Randy  Holden recently gave me an example of why one shouldn’t assume.

A few years ago this privately made patch bearing the name and number of “Unilachtego 107″.   Given the history of lodge 107 and what was already published in Blue Book, and a proclivity for the recycling of some old lodge names, I assumed this was a predecessor lodge to Kon-Kon-Tu 107 that never had an authentic issue.   That was where I was wrong.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 16% [?]

The Unknown Lodges (Originally printed in Blue Book – reprinted with permission of the American Scouting Historical Society)

by Jeff Morley and Bill Topkis

It is hard to imagine the Order of the Arrow of the early 1920’s. The scouting program itself was less than 15 years old and the Boy Scouts of America was only one of several scouting organizations competing for national dominance. In those days, the program was not even called Order of the Arrow. What we now know as the OA began in 1915 as Wimactendienk W. W. and was one of several honor camper societies to form during the first decade of Scouting.

Based upon the few first-hand accounts by members who were active in the 1920’s, minutes of early meetings of the Grand Lodge and the official “History of the Order of the Arrow” by Kenneth Davis, an amazing picture of the order’s early years begins to emerge.

Scout councils began procuring their own camps in the early to mid 1920’s. Before then, it was commonplace for councils to share large camp areas. Three such areas were Treasure Island on the Deleware River near Philadelphia, Lake Kawonanke, and Crystal Lake in New York. Scout encampments from many councils co-existed along the shores of the latter two locations and in the case of Kawonanke Lake, we know that well over thirty different scout councils had campgrounds there at the same time. In circumstances such as these, it is easy to see that if one council utilized a popular honor camper society, it would not be long before the idea would spread to neighboring council camps and such was the case in the early days.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 12% [?]

Rick Obermeyer taught a training session on “Ethical Patch Distribution” at NOAC earlier this month. The topic of patch restrictions often arises in conversation both at NOAC and elsewhere. It is raised often enough that he included an answer to this question in his handouts. I share this here with his permission.

Q4: How do you feel about restrictions?

A4: That really isn’t in the context of this session, but since we have time, I’ll give you my personal opinions, if you like. I can’t speak on restrictions for everybody. That would be too presumptuous. I can only talk about what works for my own lodge back home. Shall I go ahead?

How my lodge feels about restrictions is based on some premises. The first premise is that we are all brothers in the Order of the Arrow. That is, equal brothers. We all got into the OA the same way, with election by others. If we have Brotherhood membership, that’s because we all individually made a personal promise to accept the challenge to cheerful service that was shown to us during the Ordeal. If we are Vigil, that is a sign given to indicate that others feel that we have done a decent job of keeping that personal promise we made to ourselves at Brotherhood.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 23% [?]

Now this is patch trading!

Jason Spangler, aka The Santee Swapper, took out his video camera during the evening patch trading at NOAC.   Rather than showing every single patch that was out there — an almost impossible task if I say so myself — he wanted to capture the atmosphere of patch trading in Read Hall.   The video clip is after the jump.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 16% [?]

Now that NOAC is over we can start to get a better grasp on what the lodges issued for this event.   I would not be surprised if there’s ultimately close to 1500 issues from the approximately 300 lodges.   Keep those images coming.

Today’s question:  Which lodge issued the most patches for NOAC.   Skyuka 270 had 14 pieces and they are not a lodge known for its large quantity of issues.   Has anyone issued more?

I think there’s at least 11 issues from Amangamek Wipit (not yet online) so they could be a contender with a few more patches.  Wipala Wiki has been known for a large number of NOAC patches in past years, but I’ve not seen much from them yet.

On the other extreme:  Were there any lodges in attendance that issue no patches for NOAC?

Popularity: 13% [?]

Mystery Unami Flap

I was recently sent this image of an odd Unami flap.   The person who sent it, whose name I have lost already, didn’t know what it was.  I cannot find any listing on the Unami page that matches this flap.  I know there are several regular readers here who are knowledgeable about Unami’s issues.

Does anyone know anything about this item?

Popularity: 12% [?]

1958 NOAC Area 6-A Delegation

Ed Glass recently sent me an image of a real piece of Scouting history.    This was a photograph of the Area 6-A delegation to the 1958 National Order of the Arrow Conference.   Area 6-A served the (then) eight lodges of eastern North Carolina:  Tali Taktaki 70, Occoneechee 104, Croatan 117, Wahissa 118, Tslagi 163, Uwharrie 208,    Nayawin Rar 296, and Klahican 331.  A cropped version is at the head of this post.  Ed’s complete image, with names of the delegates can be seen here.   You will notice Ed’s name amongst the delegates

NOAC was a significantly different event then.   The conference was much smaller than it is now.   The interstate highway system was new and incomplete making the trip to Lawrence, Kansas more difficult and lengthy than it is today.  As now, training was a major focus but with fewer offerings in other areas.   Founder’s Day did not yet exist, as one could still meet and speak with the Founders themselves.  Even though the concept of youth leadership at the top levels of the Order was still a new concept, the youth-to-adult ratio appears significantly greater than the 2:1 rule enforced today.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 15% [?]

The 2009 pre-NOAC Trade-o-ree kicks off tonight with the traditional live auction.   Chris Jensen is once again running the auction and has posted the list of lots and descriptions on the Streamwood website.    There are just over 100 lots of interesting and unusual items that will be sold tonight.

It is too late to place an absentee bid.   However, if you know someone who will be there, perhaps you can arrange to have them bid for you.   Chris mentions in his auction rules that it might still be possible to arrange for someone to bid by phone during the auction.   See the auction rules for further information.

I wish I could be there with you all tomorrow night, but it wasn’t feasible for me to attend either NOAC or the TOR this time around.   Good luck to bidders and safe travel to all those going to the TOR and conference.

Popularity: 11% [?]

Ebay is eyeing new seller responsibility policies that could take effect in September.   An announcement is expected in the last week of July.  They are being marketed as a way to make sellers abide by “best practices” and to make eBay a more mainstream marketplace that is safer for users.   I immediately see problems with this and believe it will have a negative effect on those in the Scouting collectibles market.

Several of the proposed changes deal with shipping and handling charges.   Sellers would be required to charge only the actual costs of shipping and packaging supplies.   It would also become the seller’s responsibility to assure the item arrives at the buyer’s location as described.   The seller will no longer be able to offer insurance on an optional basis.   The seller could still charge the actual cost for insurance, but it would have to be incorporated into the actual item price or the shipping charges:  the cost, wherever placed, would be mandatory.

Having sold on eBay this raises more questions for me.

Continue Reading »

Popularity: 14% [?]